Clothes drier



Nov} 16, 19 48. I M. L. PUGH P 2,453,859

CLOTHES DRIER Filed Dec. 13, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

110/171 L, Pqy, 3y K 7 5 s a-M CLOTHES DRIER Filed Dec. 13, 1944 2Sheets-Sheet 2 N N INVENTOR.

51} Mia/Z1 LPay/i,

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' form of my invention.

Patented Nov. 16, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHES DRIER MerlinL. Pugh, Minneapolis, Minn. Application December 13, 1944, Serial No.567,923

1 Claim. 1

My present invention relates to a clothes drier which uses radiant heatsuch as that furnished by near infra-red ray lamps as a means toevaporate moisture quickly from the clothes being dried therein, andcontemplates the circulation of the air in the housing of the clothesdrier with its passage across cooled plates for removing the moisturefrom the air, the plates being sprayed with water so that any lint fromthe air will collect thereon and be washed from the plates by the sprayof water. 1

One object of the invention is to provide a clothes drier of thischaracter which is inexpensive to manufacture and economicalv tooperate, yet which dries clothes fast enough that successive batchesfrom a domestic washing machine can be introduced and removed therefromas fast as the machine will wash them with assurance that the clothesare thoroughly dried without wrinkles and that the moisture from the airis not discharged into the room, thereby making it uncomfortably humid.

Another object is to provide a clothes drier in which the air isrecirculated and its moisture content reduced, so that it caneflfectively dry the clothing, by means of cold water coils forcondensing the water out of the air and causing it to collect as onplates in the air stream from which the moisture drips and finds its wayto a drain, and on which plates lint may collect and be washed therefromby a spray of water at the With these and other objects in view, myinvention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination ofthe various parts of my clothes drier whereby the objects contemplatedare attained; as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in myclaim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation partly in section of a clothes drierembodying my present invention. 1

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1' witha portion of the left side broken away and sectioned at the center ofthe drying drum.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2showing details 01' the cold plate assembly in the air circulating duct;and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a modified n the accompanyingdrawings I have used the reference numeral l 0 to indicate an outerhousing within which my clothes drier mechanism is located. The dryingmechanism includes a drum D having a perforate cylindrical wall and acollarlike opening l2 at one end thereof. This collar registers with astationary collar ll on the housing I 0 which is normally closed as by adoor [6. The door may be opened for introducing clothes into the drum Dthrough the collars I4 and I2.

The drum D has a series of axially extending ribs is for the purpose oftumbling the clothing within the drum as it rotates in the direction ofthe arrow A in Figure 1. This positions the clothes ap roximately at thedotted line indicated at C opposite a reflector 2|. Within the reflectorseveral so-called infra-red ray" lamps L are positioned and the radiantrays therefrom dry out the clothing C.

The foregoing construction is substantially similar to that shown in myPatent No. 2,434,886, issued January 20, 1948. In addition to thedisclosure in that application I provide the follow- 0 ing describedmechanism for recirculating the air within the housing In and removingmoisture and lint therefrom, whereas in said co-pendlng application themoist air was discharged to atmosphere.

The drum D is enclosed within a housing 22 communicating with thereflector 2| and having a depressed portion 24. An upwardly inclinedpassageway 26 leads from the depressed portion 2| to a vertical conduit28 which conduit at its upper end has a discharge portion 30 into thereflector 20. The air may be circulated through the drum D and itscasing 22 and the elements 24, 28. 28, 30 and Ill-by any suitable meanssuch as a blower illustrated at 32. The direction of air circulating issuch that the hot moistureladen air dropping into the depression 24passes upwardly through the conduit 28.

The conduit 28 has therein a cooling plate assembly Bconsisting of alower manifold 34, an upper manifold 36, a plurality of coils '38connecting the two together and plates ll on opposite surfaces of thecoils 38. Cold water such as that supplied from a city water supplysystem is introduced into the manifold 34 under control of a suitablevalve 42 and flows upwardly through the coils thereby chilling theplates 4] and enters the manifold 30. Connected with the manifold 36 isa spray pipe 44 located above the plates 40 for spraying them with thewater after it passes through the coils, thus keeping them wet for thepurpose of washing any moisture therefrom which condenses thereon fromthe air passing upwardly between the plates and for collecting any lintwhich is then washed down by the spray of water dropping oil. the lowerends of the plates and passing down the passageway 28 into thedepression 24 and from there through a spout 46 to a drain point such asa sewer.

For operating the blower 32 as well as the drum D, a motor M is providedwhich may be directly belted to the blower by a belt 48, see Figure 2,and connected with the drum D by a pair of belts 50 and 52 through acounter-shaft 54 for slowing down the rotation of the drum. 1

The foregoing described clothes drier removes moisture from thecirculating air, using the principle of reducing the moisture carryingcapacity of saturated air at high temperature by reducing the airtemperature. The relatively cool plates 40 effect a condensation of themoisture out of the air and at the same time cool the air so that itissues from the tops of the plates with its moisture contentsubstantially reduced and then passes over the lamps L to both cool themand collect heat from them to be used in assisting in the drying of theclothes C. The air is further heated by the clothing itself as it isheated by the radiant heat from the lamps and the radiant heat effects arelatively quick evaporation of the moisture from the. clothing, whichmoisture is taken up by the circulating air and carried to the plates 40where the operating cycle begins to repeat.

The air passing the moist plates will deposit any lint on the platesthat is carried by the air, and the lint is immediately washed down bythe sprayed water from the spray pipe 44 and is disposed of through thedrain. The re-circulating air eliminates the necessity for dischargingthe humid air into the room or providing some sort of connection to achimney or flue.

The extraction of the moisture is economically accomplished by the useof the cooling coils 38 and spray pipe 44 which need not use aprohibitive amount of water to accomplish the desired results. Theapparatus produces dry clothing in a relatively short time andeliminates the operations of hanging up the clothing to dry otherwiseand then taking it down again after it is dry. At the same time theapparatus occupies a minimum of space and eliminates the necessity ofhaving to provide a drying room or hanging the clothes outdoors.

The housing 22 and the reflector are preferably surrounded by insulatingmaterial indicated generally at 56 so as to secure maximum emciency bypreventing the loss of heat from the apparatus that, when retained, canbe used for more quickly dryin the clothing. I have also found that theuse of infra-red ray lamps is much more economical than electricalheaters for the purpose of drying the clothing.

The modified form of my invention shown in Figure 4 differs from theform already described in that a separate nozzle 45 is mounted upstreamfrom the condenser B rather than downstream therefrom. Thus the air iswashed and the lint removed therefrom before it passes through thecondenser, serving to further cool the air and precipitate the lint outin the mist. This prevents the lint from contacting the condenser as thespray checks the flow of lint and returns it to the drain 24 before theair passes to the condenser.

The modification also shows a heater bulb H of the type having a cone orother shape of ceramic core around which a resistance wire iswound. Thisprovides a source of radiated heat, with the reflector 20 reflecting theradiated heat in place of the infra-red type of lamp L shown in Figure1.

A change of the kind disclosed in Figure 4 and others, as well, may bemade, and the arrangement of the parts of my clothes drier may bechanged without departing from the real spirit and purpose of myinvention, and it is my intentlon to cover by my claim any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope without sacrificing any of theadvantages thereof.

I claim as my invention:

In a clothes drier, a casing having a clothesreceiving opening in thefront thereof, a drum rotatable in said casing and having aclothes-receiving opening registering with the clothes-receiving openingof said casing, means for rotating said drum and for effectingcirculation of air within said casing, said drum being perforated topermit such circulation of air, a source of radiant heat comprisinginfra-red ray lamps within said casing and in such position outside saiddrum that rays therefrom pass into the drum to dry clothes being tumbledtherein to evaporate the moisture therefrom, means for directing saidcirculating air over said source of radiant heat, cooling surfaces inthe path of said circulating air exteriorly of said drum, means forcooling said surfaces .to remove moisture from said circulating air andmeans for wetting said surfaces to remove lint from said circulating airand for washing the lint so removed from said surfaces.

MERLIN L. PUGH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,002,578 Gayley Sept. 5, 19111,213,999 Balzer Jan. 30, 1917 1,225,211 Benjamin May 8, 1917 1,243,603Hickman Oct. 16, 1917 1,531,257 Brocke tt Mar. 24, 1925 1,672,274Noftzger June 5, 1928 1,853,424 Harris Apr. 12, 1932 2,249,202 GlennJuly 15, 1941 2,310,680 Dinley Feb. 9, 1943 2,314,748 White Mar. 23,1943 2,360,985 Sherbondy Oct. 24, 1944 2,398,880 Broglie Apr. 23, 19462,406,494 Ferris Aug. 27, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date569,094 France Jan. 4, 24

OTHER REFERENCES Quicker Drying with Lamps, by E. W. B ggs, pages 88 and89 of Factory Management and liwgaintenance, July 1939. (Copy availablein Div.

"Radiant Heat and Its Application," by James D. Hall, pages 213 to 217of Technical Association Papers, 25th Series, 1942.

